In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese.

35% of adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2008, and 11% were obese.

65% of the world’s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.

Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths. At least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese.

44% of the diabetes burden, 23% of the ischaemic heart disease burden and between 7% and 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight and obesity.

More than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011.

Obesity is preventable.

So if we know all of this, why are we not changing? What is going on here?

I believe that a big problem is that we, humans, think of diet as a temporary thing we do to loose weight, normally something very difficult to keep up. By the way, studies have shown that if you go on a diet you are very likely to put on more weight than you had when you stop it!

So lets talk about a diet, not the one I just spoke about, but a real diet, a Human Diet.

A diet should be something sustainable, something you can do without suffering, something you can adapt to and live with. A human diet should have plenty of natural food, like vegetables, leaves, fruits; and not stuff that comes all wrapped up and kept in shelves for eternity. Our bodies can’t cope with that!

We live in a society which is well fed and under nourished. Our food lacks in vitamins, minerals but has got plenty of calories, foods which are designed to taste good (the food industry spends a lot of money to make sure they will get you! They are a business and they want to sell their products). They are moreish so you can’t stop eating them… and then you feel guilty, and because you feel guilty you eat even more. Sound familiar?

We don’t mind spending money with new shoes, loads of cheap clothes, mobiles, hats, sun glasses, gadgets, but when it comes down to food we say “organic is so expensive!”, or “I don’t have money for this”. Hum.. I wonder… We don’t have it or do we just have other priorities?

The food we eat becomes our body, influences how we feel, and changes the entire chemistry of our body. It might be more expensive now, but down the line, when our health is in danger, it would have been worth it. We know the saying “buy cheap, pay dear”.

So Polly, what should I do?

It is actually quite simple: eat what you are designed to eat (ie. the human diet). Start by buying loads of fresh fruit and veg, organic or local when possible (or plant your own!). Drink plenty of water, prepare your own meals from scratch, reduce the amount of animal produce you eat or become a vegan (it’s a win-win… you get healthy and make the animals happy at the same time! 😉 ). Stop eating processed foods… they are junk and they will make you feel like junk! Actually, stop buying them – if you don’t have them at home you will not eat them! Avoid drinking fizzy drinks, avoid eating sugary stuff. Basically if it is made in a factory it will take a factory to digest it, our bodies do not recognize this stuff!

If you want to take control of your life and your health, keep your eyes open and check our website and facebook pages for more tips and recipes.